In: Biology
Fruit flies, like all insects, are covered with fine, hair-like bristles, which serve as sensory structures.
You discover a male fruit fly, which has short, under-developed bristles.
You cross this male fly with a female fly with normal bristles. Of 400 progeny, you count 205 flies with normal bristles and 195 with short bristles. You cross two F1 flies (both have short bristles) and count 400 progeny; 267 have short bristles and 133 have normal bristles.
A test cross of the F1 short bristle flies results in the following results: 195 flies with short bristles and 205 flies with normal bristles.
A reciprocal cross (short-bristled female flies with normal males) yields similar results in the F2.
A. Do what of inheritance pattern do you think this trait is showing ?
B. What conclusions can you make about the allele causing short bristles and the genotype of the original male?
C. What is the best explanation for this phenotypic pattern?
I chose
A. Homozygous dominant lethality
B. dominant
C. Individuals with the genotype BB and Bb show SHORT bristles, and those with bb show NORMAL bristles
But I got 4/6 points, not sure which I got wrong.
Answer :
Given information:
(A) Inheritance pattern: Autosomal dominant.
(B) Allele causing short bristle is dominant, and genotype of male fly is heterozygous dominant.
(C) The best explanation for this phenotypic pattern is that the trait for short bristles is lethal in homozygous condition. Heterozygous dominants (Bb) have short bristles where homozygous recessive (bb) have normal bristles. Homozygous dominant (BB) condition is lethal.
Explanation: